At the same price point of $499 I would get a Pecos all day.
For more, I would get the Brazos(1/4 in steel and Academy/Buccees sell the Brazos with the mods(conv plate, fire box, and counter weight door).
As far as airflow, I like the pecos/brazos grate level smoke stack that many have copied and actually refined and fine tuned.
When that draft gets to rolling, it it pulls like a freight train.